


The Past is Prelude

by sunkelles



Series: Femslash February 2018 [4]
Category: Akame ga Kill!
Genre: F/F, Femslash February, Pre series, Unreliable Narrator
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-17 04:42:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13651665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunkelles/pseuds/sunkelles
Summary: Najenda and Esdeath loved each other, once.





	The Past is Prelude

**Author's Note:**

> hey did you know.... that najenda and esdeath.... are bitter exes? 
> 
> hope that i did an alright job with the characterization. esdeath and najenda are both such interesting characters, i wanted to do them justice. i tried to be subtle because this is before najenda got her harsh reality check that led her away from the empire (and esdeath) but hopefully you could still see esdeath just being esdeath through her unreliable narration 
> 
> title is of course from the tempest which i just did a reread of for school

It’s late. Najenda couldn’t sleep to begin with, but now her brain is racing with so many questions that sleep is completely out of the question. She’s gotten out of bed to sit at the edge of the tent, staring out at the expanse of her camp.

There sure are a lot of soldiers. She knows this shouldn't still surprise her, but it does. It still surprises her that she has so many people under her command, so many people that she can and will order to kill and to die for the Empire. She's risen through so many ranks so fast. 

She’s worked her whole life to become a general, and now that she’s here she has so many doubts. She thinks that she should have become more sure of herself and her purpose as she rose through the ranks. Esdeath is the only other general she knows, and she’s never met anyone as confident as Esdeath in her life. Najenda, however, lacks that resolve. She’s racked with uncertainty- doubts gnawing at her insides like prisoners trying to eat their way out of the prison she’s made of her heart.

She doesn’t know if they can win this fight. She doesn’t even know if she’s doing the right thing anymore. So many people have died. So many of them have died at Najenda’s own hand. Sometimes she wishes that she had Esdeath’s self confidence. Esdeath always believes in herself and her purpose. She believes in herself, in Najenda, and in survival of the fittest. That’s all that Esdeath needs in the world. While Najenda does not always agree with her, there’s something alluring about her blazing sun of a heart. She feels like a moth drawn to a flame when she’s around Esdeath sometimes.

“Najenda, come back to bed,” Esdeath calls. Najenda sighs. She should have expected Esdeath to wake up and notice that she was gone. Esdeath always cuddles like her lover will fade out of existence if she doesn’t hold them as tightly as she can.

“I couldn’t sleep,” Najenda says, standing up. She might as well come back to bed now. It’s not like she’s going to maintain her privacy either way.

“What was keeping you awake?” Esdeath asks, “was I holding you too tightly?” Najenda laughs. Esdeath holds her tightly, but not so tightly that Najenda doesn’t like it. She likes to be held as if she’s the most important thing in the universe. She sits down on the edge of the bed.

“No,” Najenda says, shaking her head.

“Was the sound of the camp too loud?” Esdeath asks, as if there’s anything she can do about the sound of the camp.

“No,” Najenda says, “just the sound of my own thoughts.”

“Oh, you’re worried about the battle tomorrow,” Esdeath says.

“A little,” Najenda says. She’s more than a little worried, but she doesn’t want to admit that to Esdeath. Her lover isn’t the best at sympathizing with other people’s fears. Najenda doesn’t think that Esdeath has ever experienced fear herself. Najenda, however, feels that she has good reason to be afraid. The Ban Tribe has given the Empire more trouble than any other uprising in the past hundred years.

“Only the weak die,” Esdeath says, like this is some fact of the universe, “and you are not weak.” Najenda’s not sure that she agrees with either of these statements, but she’s too tired to fight over either of them. Arguing with Esdeath can be like picking a fight with the sun.

“We’ll crush them like the roaches they are,” Esdeath says. Najenda smiles. Last night, Esdeath crushed a cockroach for her because of how scared she was. She thinks that Esdeath is telling her that she can conquer her fears, no matter what. It might be the most romantic thing that Esdeath’s ever said to her.

Najenda finally lies down beside Esdeath. She's decided that she's going to sleep now if it kills her. At the very least, she's going to lie down and revel in her lover's embrace. 

“Yes,” she says, with a confidence she doesn’t possess, “we will.” Esdeath curls up beside her, and wraps her arms around her waist.

“We’ll be fine, Najenda,” Esdeath says. Then she presses a soft kiss to Najenda’s shoulder. Najenda allows herself to melt into her lover’s embrace. She can worry about her doubts later. Right now, she’s warm and safe in Esdeath’s arms. That’s enough.


End file.
